As I peered into the early dawn, rain pittered and pattered down onto the tree leaves, grass, and the other surroundings that were engulfed by early morning’s dark nature. I, of course, accompanied by only a rain jacket and some now soaked sneakers on my feet, went for a venture out into the darkness soon to be turned light. Down the road I stepped, checking the habitat in which I am found. A road, trees, a lake, trees, some cabins surrounded by trees, a mess hall with trees inside. Big and tall trees, a few dead trees, mostly living trees, trees with leaves and trees whose leaves have left them for the change of season. One tree specifically, was too tall to even see the top. It was so great in its size, something intangible. Just the thought of this tree made me shiver, or maybe it was the cold rain in the colder morning.
As I was taking this leisurely stroll, I was greeted with a Home of red light.
The glow of the unsourced red hue filled only, from what I could see, the entrance, the second floor, and all the windows visible to me. The Home lay within an even darker darkness, off the path, surrounded by a tall forest of trees. The trees engulfed the Home of the red glare. However much it looked like a Home, it was more like a House. Maybe a Home to the light, but I was positive no one actually lives here. That was until I got closer.
My lust for adventure had overtaken my good judgement. As I left the path of the road, stepped closer to the house, I grew colder, the rain intensified near the forest. Either that, or the raindrops on the tree leaves gave the same effect. Good things did not happen here. This wasn’t a place where you’d particularly see unicorns.
In front of the door now, I tried to open it. A rust-ridden padlock and some old rotted wood protected me from whatever was lying inside. I stepped on the first step of the porch to approach the door. As my second foot left the ground to take another step up, the stairs became so inviting, and the padlock dropped. Perhaps the wood had given out, or a spirit was guiding me closer. All signs that had told me “stay away” were defective in their attempt to do so, because the door slowly creaked open, and I only hesitated for a second. A foot had enticed itself to bound forward, the light encompassed it, surrounded by the darkness lying about. The foot became cold and dead-like. Suddenly, there it was, emerging from the red light like a ship in the fog…
Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like had I never awoke that morning.